Story by Hannah Pagaduan
The UP Lady Maroons failed to secure a spot in the Final Four after losing to a heartbreaking match against the NU Lady Bulldogs, 21-25, 24-26, 25-17, 25-23, 15-17, in their second round meeting in the UAAP Season 81 women's volleyball tournament at the Mall of Asia Arena, Sunday.
Both teams started off strong, trading points back and forth in the opening set.
But with combined efforts of NU’s Ivy Lacsina, Audrey Paran, and Jen Nierva, the Sampaloc-based squad pulled away and led by as much as six points.
NU eventually took the first set with a four-point advantage, 25-21.
Come second set, the Diliman-based squad was able to dictate the pace and lead by five points in the middle of the canto, 15-10.
But the Lady Bulldogs refused to stay down and continued to fight back into the set with grit as they took a two-set advantage over UP, 26-24.
At the brink of elimination, UP Captain Tots Carlos and the rest of the Lady Maroons were finally able to get their rhythm going as they played with urgency.
The Lady Maroons were quick to take a set back, 25-17.
With momentum on their side, the Lady Maroons were able to survive a nerve-wracking fourth set where NU was able to save three set points and catch up to State U, 23-24.
Fortunately for the Lady Maroons, Carlos ended it with an off the block kill.
UP played aggressively to start the deciding set with an 8-7 lead, but Paran and the rest of the NU team played with more aggression later into the set and led by as much as three, 8-11.
However, attacks from Carlos came back-to-back with a kill block from spark-off-the-bench Roselyn Rosier to tie the game at 11-all.
With a crucial error by Isa Molde on UP’s side and a finishing kill by Paran, the Lady Bulldogs finished the game strong and took home their hard-earned victory.
Carlos led UP with 18 points, while graduating setter Ayel Estrañero had 11.
Meanwhile, Molde and Marian Buitre each tallied nine points in the losing effort against the Lady Bulldogs.
“We started well, [but] the finish is not good. We are a good team, but we did not play to our potential,” UP Head Coach Godfrey Okumu said after the game.
The tactician expressed his dismay at the season-ending loss, the early exit following a very successful off-season for the Lady Maroons.
“It’s kind of not real when you win two championships and then you don’t make it to the Final Four. Like today’s game, we left it to chance but we had chances to win many games before this one,” Okumu added.
Okumu also stressed the important roles of luck and patience in every contest.
“Maybe, it’s just, luck is not on our side. Sometimes, it’s not about the skill because skill-wise, we are good,” he said.
“Luck and patience bring a lot of difference in the team,” the Kenyan mentor added.
However, he also admitted that there remains a lot of factors that the team needs to address before moving forward to the next season.
“There are factors that we have to deal with that we could not work on during the season because the season started already, but I hope by [the] coming new season, on the upcoming new off-season games--off pre-season games--we’ll see a new UP,” Okumu said.
Meanwhile, Coach Okumu expressed his gratitude to the whole UP community for their unwavering support for the team through its highs and lows, and hopes that they will continue to support the women’s volleyball team as new faces enter the lineup.
“Thank you so much for giving us support. We’ll have rookies playing next coming year and we’d want the fans to embrace these new players who are coming in, give them support, and bring the positive vibes the UP community has brought all along,” he said.
“I hope the community will see the new rookies as the future of UP,” he added.
The Lady Maroons hope to end their season on a high note and give a proper send-off for graduating teammates Buitre and Estrañero when they face the Adamson Lady Falcons in their last game of the season.
Buitre and Estrañero will have their swan song in Maroon on April 27.
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